Category Archives: Life

There’s Something in the Water

I guess Edmonton has what one would call “hard water”.

I always air dry my dishes. This is for two reasons: why take the time to towel dry them when they can dry while I am doing something else, and I never know how clean my dish towel is. But here in Edmonton, letting them air dry means they are left with mineral deposits making them look spotty and dirty. Even the dishes in the dishwasher come out like that. I have found that opening the door instead of letting them dry by the heat reduces the amount of deposits though.

The same goes for the sinks and tub. I feel bad giving Calvin a bath because the tub always feels dirty. I miss Victoria water, but I suppose this is something I will have to live with.

The Tupperware Cupboard

Now that Calvin is mobile, I can’t just sit him on the floor while I do dishes or make supper. He has to be entertained otherwise he will get into trouble. So I let him play in the Tupperware cupboard. It is something that my mom did for me and my siblings, and I think it’s a great idea! Except when he learns that it is something he is allowed, so he doesn’t want it anymore.

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Christmas Time

There is always a lot going on in December to celebrate Christmas. This year I tried pretty hard to get out and participate in a few events. I already told you about the Christmas Tree Lighting downtown, but since then, there have been a couple other things we have done.

My friend, Andrea, invited us to a fun, new event her church put on this year. It was called Imagining Christmas and was in a building at Fort Edmonton. There was music, food, crafts and a photo booth. There were also a TON of people, so we didn’t stay too long, but it was fun! Here is our family photo from the booth:

We are wearing our “It’s cold!” faces.

Last weekend, our friends Dee and Matt invited us to their church where they had a Bethlehem Walk. Tim had been to one on the Island before, but this was the first one I had been too (and Calvin too, of course). I forgot my camera, but Tim used his phone to get some not-so-great shots. Here we are at the top of the village:

And of course we can’t forget Christmas in our own home! We won’t be here for Christmas, and I really don’t have that many decorations, so I didn’t go all out. But I did put some lights around the window and set up my little 3′ apartment sized tree. Up until last night, Calvin hasn’t really noticed it. But I have it up on a box, so hopefully he can’t get into too much trouble.

We plan on leaving on Wednesday after Tim gets off work. We will drive the flat stretch that evening then tackle the snowy mountain drive in the daylight on Thursday. We are very much looking forward to spending some time with family and letting everybody get some Calvin snuggles in.

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Max’s Makeover

This past weekend we finally finished off the stuff we have to do to make Max, our Mazda, completely Albertan. It was a little bit of a process. We had to

get insurance
get a form from the registry office to get an out of province inspection
have the out of province inspection done
go back to the registry office (at a time both of us could go since both our names were on the insurance) and register the car; this is an extra step that BC does not have
get our Alberta driver’s licenses

It’s so shiny it’s hurting my eyes! Seriously, it’s hard to tell how dirty the car is, since it’s dark grey, but I can say that the BC plates we removed were about the same colour as the car.

It’s a little bit of a funny feeling because before, when we had our old plates, I was really concious of the way I was driving, especially when the road conditions were not clear. I would imagine what other drivers were thinking of this “BC driver”. But now, when I drive with my local plates, I don’t feel like I am driving any different than other people. It’s silly.

Calvin Claps

Today Calvin learned how to clap! All it took was a couple days of singing “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. The really neat and exciting thing about it is that it’s the first thing he learned that wasn’t natural, like rolling over or smiling. He had to observe and learn. It makes me proud.

Please excuse my singing voice… I have a cold.

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More of Our Stuff

This week Tim’s parents came out to drive Jordan back to the Island for his Christmas break. They decided to also pack along some of the stuff we had to leave behind! Sadly I didn’t get any photos of their visit, but I got some photos to share of the furniture that I once again have in my house.

First of all, the glider. In this house it does not fit in Calvin’s room, so either I have to do some really tricky reconfiguration in there, or it will just live in the office area.

Next is the barrister’s bookcase that my parents gave us. It houses Tim’s fancy old books, his own books (yes, they are for sale), and miscellaneous other office things. I still need to change out the hardware for something that isn’t broken and less plastic.
Also, they brought a couple more of our kitchen chairs. So now we can seat 5 people at the table (or 6 if we use the computer chair) instead of 3. Bring on the dinner parties!

Lastly, and most importantly (in my opinion), are my white book shelves! I have three, but they were only able to fit 2 in the vehicle. In Victoria I had one in Calvin’s room for books and toys, and the other two were stacked in the dining room and held my pretty dishes. Here, one wouldn’t fit in Calvin’s room, and in the kitchen it works better to have dishes in the cupboards and food out on the shelf. So instead I could finally unpack the many boxes of books we had stacked in the corner of the living room. Every shelf has two rows of books. Mine take up half a shelf and all the rest are Tim’s. I have a reader of a husband. I will let you guess what portion is mine and who my favourite author is.

So now that we have more furniture, it feels a little bit more cozy and homey in here. I just wish I could paint those walls. The brown isn’t doing it for me.

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The Utility Situation

Some of you may remember me mentioning something about our utility situation on Facebook a few weeks ago. Basically, we were under the impression that the utilities would be shared with the downstairs unit, but were surprised to find out that their rent included them. This seemed like a silly arrangement since we have control of the thermostat, so (before we knew we were to pay for everything) we were turning up the temp for them. They were also using space heaters which is understandable because basements are cold. But we were paying the difference for their comfort.

A couple days after we discovered this, we received our first full electricity/water bill. The total was $440. Needless to say, we were quite shocked. The owner was as well, saying that when she lived here it never went over $200. Now a little of the difference would come from us doing more laundry, but we don’t do THAT much laundry! I think the space heaters downstairs are the culprit.

So our landlord, along with his daughter who owns the house but lives in Calgary, met with us and the other tenants today. After talking with both of us, we came to the agreement that they would split the utilities with us, and their rent will be lowered. So that makes us happy! Also, I think the other tenants said they bought a new, more energy efficient heater. Not quite sure how that works, but we will see when the next bill comes.

Another part of the story is they will be moving out in the New Year and another guy will move in, who apparently will only be there part time because he works out on the rigs or something.

So that’s that, and we are all happy now!

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